Professional Golfer to be Enshrined In Little League Hall of Excellence

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Aug. 18, 2004) – To describe Cathy Gerring as a
courageous competitor would not do her justice in light of her
lifelong resiliency away from the world of professional golf.

With three LPGA victories to her credit, Mrs. Gerring was an
established player on the tour before a 1992 accident left her hands,
arms and face severely burned, and a fall in 2002 caused a serious
brain injury. She has overcome her misfortune in recent years, and
returned to playing competitive golf this season with hopes to once
again qualify for the LPGA tour.

This August, at the 58th Little League Baseball World Series in
Williamsport, Mrs. Gerring’s courage, spirit and conviction will be
recognized as she is enshrined in the Peter J. McGovern Little League
Museum Hall of Excellence.

The enshrinement ceremony will take place before the world
championship game, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 29. Mrs. Gerring
will join police detective Nancy dosReis, and college hockey champion
and Olympic silver medalist Krissy Wendell as the first women to be so
honored.

Mrs. Gerring, 43, whose maiden name is Kratzert, was born in Fort
Wayne, Ind., and graduated from Elmhurst High School in 1979. In 1976,
as a 15-year-old, she played Senior Little League Baseball in Fort
Wayne’s Times Corners Little League.

“My dream as a kid was to be the first female major leaguer,” said
Mrs. Gerring. “Baseball will always be my first love, and Little
League taught me about courage, and discipline, and showed me that the
game was always bigger than any single player. Many of those lessons I
have carried over into my golf.”

Leaving Ohio State University in 1983 to turn pro, Mrs. Gerring played
on the LPGA tour for six years, capturing all three of her tournament
victories in 1990. The burns she sustained occurred at a dinner
following a tournament in Nashville and left doctors with the opinion
that she would not play competitive golf again. She was off the LPGA
tour for five years.

After two skin graft surgeries, she worked her way back, both mentally
and physically, and was playing tournament golf again, until suffering
a traumatic blow to the head as result of a fall down a flight of
steps.

“Cathy is a testament to intestinal fortitude and self-confidence,”
said Stephen D. Keener, president and chief executive officer of
Little League Baseball and Softball. “Throughout her life she has
dealt with setbacks as just another challenge, and her spirit along
with an unwavering will to succeed is a credit to her character. It is
with great pride that we will enshrine her in the Hall of Excellence.”

“I look at what Little League is bestowing on me – it’s incredible,”
said Mrs. Gerring. “I got chills when I found out, because baseball
has always been such a big part of my life. Golf is an individual
sport, where you don’t have people backing you up, but playing Little
League taught me so much about friendship and teamwork.”

Established in 1988, enshrinement in the Peter J. McGovern Little
League Museum Hall of Excellence is conducted annually for a Little
League graduate (or graduates) who have demonstrated a commitment to
excellence in their chosen profession and exemplify the values learned
as children in Little League Baseball or Softball. Enshrinees are
selected through a defined voting system by the Peter J. McGovern
Little League Museum Advisory Board.

Mr. McGovern saw the need for a physical structure to tell the story
of Little League. To that end, he spearheaded the development of the
Little League Museum. Opened during the 1982 Little League World
Series, the museum is located on the Little League International
complex. It was renamed in Mr. McGovern’s honor upon his retirement in
1983.

Little League Baseball and Softball is the world’s largest organized
youth sports program, with nearly 2.7 million players and 1 million
adult volunteers in every U.S. state and scores of other countries.